Wednesday in many circles is known as hump day but we usually just call it the middle of the week since it truly is the middle. What a crazy day too. Hubby and I left the house before 8:30 AM...yes AM, to go to his VA appointment and to see the benefits specialist. We saw the benefit specialist first and there was a huge relief. During the meeting with her the kids call to say the US Government called but we didn't answer. My dear daughter wasn't sure why the government would be calling us. I explained that the VA was part of the government, her comment, "oh I thought the VA was American." Yep that's my girl. Finally, it turned out they needed to cancel my hubby's appointment for 10:30 am...not happy. This is 2 appointments, back-to-back, this provider has cancelled after we arrived at the Medical Center.
VA Facilities as well as the care being provided, has improved greatly in the last 5 years or so but the cancelling of appointments irritates me, especially when patients need to be seen at times. My hubby has severe Combat Related PTSD and there are days which prove to be very challenging not just for him but for the whole family in general. He does the best in his own environment but sometimes we venture out and we make sure one of us is always with him and he usually knows the best places to go to decompress when the stores start to get to him. So it was the doctor to regulate the PTSD meds who cancelled these last 2 appointments. Ok I will finish with this rant for the time being.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Monday
Many times Monday's are just crazy with the hustle and bustle of regular life but honestly I don't feel like we have a regular life just yet. Not sure we will have a regular life for quite a while either. With our choice to home school the kids we know we will be changing the look of school as well as the feel of school. Hard to imagine sometimes that I am really excited to get started. In many ways we all are excited to get school going.
Monday has kind of turned into library day and we all go usually in the afternoon. Much to my darling son's dismay, I MADE him check out a book. He is 13 and reading has been a struggle for him up until the last few years so it is not his favorite subject. He likes books but not the act of reading. My daughter is 10 and I think she checked out as many books. She LOVES to read and will read almost anything around. I am amazed at how different the kids are in some respects as well as how alike they are in others. They continue to make us laugh daily.
I am hoping to keep Mondays as our library day throughout the school year for the pure enjoyment of going to the library. I lucked out though today and found a book on Excel since there is an Excel problem that is kicking my backside. Not sure if the book I found is the right help book but I will give it a try. The funny thing is it is not even my problem as much as my mom's but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to tell her to do it to complete her task and that alone is enough to drive me nuts.
Monday has kind of turned into library day and we all go usually in the afternoon. Much to my darling son's dismay, I MADE him check out a book. He is 13 and reading has been a struggle for him up until the last few years so it is not his favorite subject. He likes books but not the act of reading. My daughter is 10 and I think she checked out as many books. She LOVES to read and will read almost anything around. I am amazed at how different the kids are in some respects as well as how alike they are in others. They continue to make us laugh daily.
I am hoping to keep Mondays as our library day throughout the school year for the pure enjoyment of going to the library. I lucked out though today and found a book on Excel since there is an Excel problem that is kicking my backside. Not sure if the book I found is the right help book but I will give it a try. The funny thing is it is not even my problem as much as my mom's but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to tell her to do it to complete her task and that alone is enough to drive me nuts.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Life and Other Fun Things
Been a hectic week which will follow up with another one, but that is life. Hard to believe the weather that we have been having. I honestly do not remember a summer that I haven't been without a sweatshirt by my side. I have worn my sweatshirt, since moving from the beach, less than 5 times. I really love summer.
We have been to the lake everyday for the past week which means I have finished my book and am ready for a new one.
We are working on another adventure this fall, home based schooling using K12. We are really excited and have been working on getting our space set up for school. Most of the kids' materials have arrived and we found some great computer tables at our state surplus store for only $10, love those bargains.
As we get closer to school beginning, September 6th, I will be writing more about our adventures in homeschooling and how that is working out for all of us.
Pizza is in the oven so I will finish up here.
We have been to the lake everyday for the past week which means I have finished my book and am ready for a new one.
We are working on another adventure this fall, home based schooling using K12. We are really excited and have been working on getting our space set up for school. Most of the kids' materials have arrived and we found some great computer tables at our state surplus store for only $10, love those bargains.
As we get closer to school beginning, September 6th, I will be writing more about our adventures in homeschooling and how that is working out for all of us.
Pizza is in the oven so I will finish up here.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Life Gets Messy
You know how there are these commercials talking about life getting messy...boy are they right. Life gets messy alright. Sometimes the mess can be easily swept up and put back in in original spot other times you can sweep in under the carpet and put it on ignore. But there are times life's mess smacks you flat in the head so you cannot ignore it...AT ALL!
Life seems to have gotten a little messy over the weekend. Tried to quickly ease things over, but the next day it came out again only the mess got bigger. Really?!?! Like someone walking in the middle of your swept up pile in the kitchen. The next thing the mess gets so large it threatens to take over and cannot be ignored any longer...it has to be dealt with. WOW!!! Another fine mess.
So now the weekend is over, things have calmed down but there is still the lingering question in the back of my mind...is it really over or will everything come back to smack me in the head?!?! I sure hope not and hopefully things will be put back in their proper place.
Life seems to have gotten a little messy over the weekend. Tried to quickly ease things over, but the next day it came out again only the mess got bigger. Really?!?! Like someone walking in the middle of your swept up pile in the kitchen. The next thing the mess gets so large it threatens to take over and cannot be ignored any longer...it has to be dealt with. WOW!!! Another fine mess.
So now the weekend is over, things have calmed down but there is still the lingering question in the back of my mind...is it really over or will everything come back to smack me in the head?!?! I sure hope not and hopefully things will be put back in their proper place.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
A Little More Info
It was pointed out to me that I had left out a few other details when talking about our move and some of the circumstances.
We had known for about 4 months that we were about to make a change in our lives. We had a desire to move from where we had lived for almost 10 years and start a new chapter in our lives. Amazingly enough we had found what we believed was the perfect opportunity to meet our immediate change as well as to facilitate some of our future goals. The move was about 300 miles away and located in the middle of our state. We were getting pretty excited and then about 5 days before we were to leave they changed their minds...and there we were ready to move and no place to go.
I have learned a few things over the past 2 months, never assume ANYTHING, EVER, and to not just settle for an OK when you need more than that. We almost settled for the first house we looked at but we would not have been as happy I am sure, we also may have missed a valuable lesson.
We started our house search July 1st more or less. I searched craigslist everyday for rentals and we drove so many miles to look at so many houses. We all fell in love with a house almost right away but the people never returned our calls after the first meeting. We were bummed but we kept on looking. We found a really cool old farm house it still had the original wood cook stove in the kitchen for heat. There was a little acreage to go with it and also BATS!!! The owner wanted to keep the bats so there were less bugs...REALLY??? What about the bat poop??? The thought of the bats just about did me in but being chased by one was the last straw. I was chased through the living room into the kitchen, out onto the porch where I finally just jumped off. Yep that was not the house for us!
Needless to say we did not settle on a house but kept up the search until we finally found a great house in a great neighborhood.
We had known for about 4 months that we were about to make a change in our lives. We had a desire to move from where we had lived for almost 10 years and start a new chapter in our lives. Amazingly enough we had found what we believed was the perfect opportunity to meet our immediate change as well as to facilitate some of our future goals. The move was about 300 miles away and located in the middle of our state. We were getting pretty excited and then about 5 days before we were to leave they changed their minds...and there we were ready to move and no place to go.
I have learned a few things over the past 2 months, never assume ANYTHING, EVER, and to not just settle for an OK when you need more than that. We almost settled for the first house we looked at but we would not have been as happy I am sure, we also may have missed a valuable lesson.
We started our house search July 1st more or less. I searched craigslist everyday for rentals and we drove so many miles to look at so many houses. We all fell in love with a house almost right away but the people never returned our calls after the first meeting. We were bummed but we kept on looking. We found a really cool old farm house it still had the original wood cook stove in the kitchen for heat. There was a little acreage to go with it and also BATS!!! The owner wanted to keep the bats so there were less bugs...REALLY??? What about the bat poop??? The thought of the bats just about did me in but being chased by one was the last straw. I was chased through the living room into the kitchen, out onto the porch where I finally just jumped off. Yep that was not the house for us!
Needless to say we did not settle on a house but kept up the search until we finally found a great house in a great neighborhood.
The Weekend
Ah the weekend is here. Took the kids to the lake yesterday but it was rather windy so they only swam about an hour but they were still happy to be swimming. We went to the library after they changed clothes. All in all it was an easy day.
Last night I was checking for Garage Sales, we love to go to garage sales even the kids. I found 6 good sales within a 2 mile radius of the house which will make it easier. I have a list and have double checked on mapquest all of the addresses so I know where they all are...just in case. It is not that I get lost or anything like that but we do tend to spend a lot of quality time in the car after a wrong turn.
This afternoon I hope to get the new dishes washed and all the boxes broken down and stacked correctly in the garage. Funny when I ask the kids to put something in the garage I swear they just open the door and throw it in and let it stay where ever it lands, but I guess we have all done that as kids.
Last night I was checking for Garage Sales, we love to go to garage sales even the kids. I found 6 good sales within a 2 mile radius of the house which will make it easier. I have a list and have double checked on mapquest all of the addresses so I know where they all are...just in case. It is not that I get lost or anything like that but we do tend to spend a lot of quality time in the car after a wrong turn.
This afternoon I hope to get the new dishes washed and all the boxes broken down and stacked correctly in the garage. Funny when I ask the kids to put something in the garage I swear they just open the door and throw it in and let it stay where ever it lands, but I guess we have all done that as kids.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Starting a New Life
Hard to believe that I have not updated my primary blog in 3 months...but so much has happened in that time. To start with in April my dear husband FINALLY went to the VA for his service connected issues, which resulted in multiple medications and we was not able to really work on the medications that were prescribed. At this point hubby was working and I was not, which is really unusual for me but it was working for us up until this point in time. I tried to look for work but the economy caused problems the world over and we lived in one of the poorest counties in the State of Washington.
Mid June we HAD to move, there were no options left, but without a steady income coming in what do you do? The kids had their last day of school and then I took them to visit with my sister, 1 1/2 hrs away. I came back and decided to try called the VA Social Work department and I had a call back within 24 hrs. The VA actually has a Veterans Homeless Prevention Program and there are programs to assist families in crisis. When I say crisis I am referring to losing their home, jobs, utilities shut off and such.
We packed up our home into a U-Haul and put everything into a storage unit then we met with the social worker and a VA Liasian with Catholic Community Services in Thurston County. Best news yet, they could and would help us...I cried. I was ready to leave my kids with my sister for the whole summer so they would not have to be troubled with worry and the feeling of hopelessness that was overwhelming so many times.
We were and are very blessed with wonderful people in our life. One of the guys that my husband serviced with offered us a place to stay while looking for a house but if not for that I have no idea what we would have truly done and I really do not want to ever find our first hand. So here we are, me, my hubby and our two kids, not to mention the beagle living in a converted basement and seven other people in the same house. I can certainly see why I only have 2 kids. LOL Overall it was not a bad experience and I was so very grateful to have my kids somewhere safe and with people that do love them. I have no idea what I would have done without our oldest friends...may I never have to find out.
Well it took a month to find a house that fit into the program guidelines for us and then we finally were able to move in and we have been here for 3 weeks. I can honestly tell everyone that a night does not pass that I thank God for EVERYTHING both the good and the bad.
There is some irony to this misadventure that we have just been through...for the last 4 years my hubby and I have been developing the idea of a farm or ranch project that would create homes and some training possibilities for Veterans and their families on the verge of homelessness. The statistics are amazing and we were about to join those ever growing numbers. After all is said and done we have found people that believe in our project and want to help us make it happen. So many blessings!
So here we are enjoying the comfort of a new home with the help of others because we finally admitted that we needed some help. Sometimes that is all that it takes is admitting there is a need but the hardest thing in the world to do is to actually ASK for help and that is the only way that is comes, by ASKING!
Mid June we HAD to move, there were no options left, but without a steady income coming in what do you do? The kids had their last day of school and then I took them to visit with my sister, 1 1/2 hrs away. I came back and decided to try called the VA Social Work department and I had a call back within 24 hrs. The VA actually has a Veterans Homeless Prevention Program and there are programs to assist families in crisis. When I say crisis I am referring to losing their home, jobs, utilities shut off and such.
We packed up our home into a U-Haul and put everything into a storage unit then we met with the social worker and a VA Liasian with Catholic Community Services in Thurston County. Best news yet, they could and would help us...I cried. I was ready to leave my kids with my sister for the whole summer so they would not have to be troubled with worry and the feeling of hopelessness that was overwhelming so many times.
We were and are very blessed with wonderful people in our life. One of the guys that my husband serviced with offered us a place to stay while looking for a house but if not for that I have no idea what we would have truly done and I really do not want to ever find our first hand. So here we are, me, my hubby and our two kids, not to mention the beagle living in a converted basement and seven other people in the same house. I can certainly see why I only have 2 kids. LOL Overall it was not a bad experience and I was so very grateful to have my kids somewhere safe and with people that do love them. I have no idea what I would have done without our oldest friends...may I never have to find out.
Well it took a month to find a house that fit into the program guidelines for us and then we finally were able to move in and we have been here for 3 weeks. I can honestly tell everyone that a night does not pass that I thank God for EVERYTHING both the good and the bad.
There is some irony to this misadventure that we have just been through...for the last 4 years my hubby and I have been developing the idea of a farm or ranch project that would create homes and some training possibilities for Veterans and their families on the verge of homelessness. The statistics are amazing and we were about to join those ever growing numbers. After all is said and done we have found people that believe in our project and want to help us make it happen. So many blessings!
So here we are enjoying the comfort of a new home with the help of others because we finally admitted that we needed some help. Sometimes that is all that it takes is admitting there is a need but the hardest thing in the world to do is to actually ASK for help and that is the only way that is comes, by ASKING!
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